Redundant live video streaming for fault tolerance

ABSTRACT

A fault-tolerant, cloud-based system can comprise a redundancy control unit capable of switching between transcoded video streams output by two or more transcoders. The redundancy control unit outputs a manifest from one of the transcoded streams and, upon detecting a fault in the stream, can modify the manifest to switch to another of the transcoded video streams. The redundancy control unit can further modify the manifest to flag the discontinuity in the video stream, which allows the player to switch to the new transcoding video stream without error. Other embodiments can include additional redundancies to help provide additional fault tolerance.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/870,645, filed May 8, 2020, which is incorporated herein byreference. This application is also related to the following commonlyassigned application filed on the same day as this application, which isalso incorporated herein by reference:

-   -   U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______/______, filed on Dec. 6,        2021, titled FAULT TOLERANT LIVE VIDEO STREAMING SWITCHOVER        (Attorney Docket No.: 092853-1286683-005130US);

BACKGROUND

Cloud-based live video streaming via the Internet can involve a chain ofcommunicatively coupled components configured to relay (and process) thelive video from a video source (e.g., a camera) to a player (e.g., amedia software application executed on a computer, mobile phone, etc.)viewed by an end-user. A failure in any component of the live streamingdelivery chain, however, can interrupt the viewing experience for thatevent, decreasing the quality of the user experience from theperspective of the end-user, and reducing the value of the live video tothe video provider.

Traditional solutions help reduce the likelihood of an interruptedviewing experience by providing redundant video streams and switchingfrom a faulty stream to an operative stream, if necessary. However, suchsolutions often require customized hardware and/or software at the videosource, which can be expensive to implement.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments herein overcome these and other issues by providing afault-tolerant, cloud-based architecture comprising a redundancy controlunit capable of switching between transcoded video streams output by twoor more transcoders. The redundancy control unit outputs a manifest fromone of the transcoded streams and, upon detecting a fault in the stream,can modify the manifest to switch to another of the transcoded videostreams. The redundancy control unit can further modify the manifest toflag the discontinuity in the video stream, which allows the player toswitch to the new transcoding video stream without error. Otherembodiments can include additional redundancies to help provideadditional fault tolerance. Because these embodiments do not requirespecialized hardware and/or software at the video source (e.g.,contribution encoders can common off-the-shelf encoders), they can besignificantly more cost effective than traditional redundancy solutions.

An example method of providing fault-tolerant live video streaming,according to this description, comprises obtaining a first transcodedvideo stream from a first video transcoder and a second transcoded videostream from a second video transcoder, outputting a first manifest thatuses video segments of the first transcoded video stream to provide afirst output video stream, identifying a fault condition with the firsttranscoding video stream, and in response to identifying the faultcondition, updating the first manifest to switch from using the videosegments of the first transcoded video stream to provide the firstoutput video stream to using video segments of the second transcodedvideo stream to provide the first output video stream.

An example system, according to this description, comprises a memory andone or more processing units communicatively coupled with the memory andconfigured to obtain a first transcoded video stream from a first videotranscoder and a second transcoded video stream from a second videotranscoder, output a first manifest that uses video segments of thefirst transcoded video stream to provide a first output video stream,identify a fault condition with the first transcoding video stream, andin response to identifying the fault condition, update the firstmanifest to switch from using the video segments of the first transcodedvideo stream to provide the first output video stream to using videosegments of the second transcoded video stream to provide the firstoutput video stream.

An example non-transitory computer-readable medium, according to thisdescription, has instructions stored thereby, which, when executed byone or more processing units, cause the one or more processing units toobtain a first transcoded video stream from a first video transcoder anda second transcoded video stream from a second video transcoder, outputa first manifest that uses video segments of the first transcoded videostream to provide a first output video stream, identify a faultcondition with the first transcoding video stream, and in response toidentifying the fault condition, update the first manifest to switchfrom using the video segments of the first transcoded video stream toprovide the first output video stream to using video segments of thesecond transcoded video stream to provide the first output video stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the overall structure ofmodern-era cloud-based live video delivery chain.

FIGS. 2A-2C. are diagrams of switching mechanisms that may be utilizedin a fault-tolerant live video delivery system, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fault-tolerant video delivery system withpost-transcoder switch, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 provides an example of how a manifest may be modified to helpminimize issues at a player arising from a switch from one video streamto another.

FIGS. 5-7 is a block diagram of additional embodiments of fault-tolerantvideo delivery systems.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 800 of method ofproviding fault-tolerant live video streaming, according to anembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements,in accordance with certain example implementations. In addition,multiple instances of an element may be indicated by following a firstnumber for the element with a letter or a hyphen and a second number.For example, multiple instances of an element 110 may be indicated as110-1, 110-2, 110-3 etc. or as 110 a, 110 b, 110 c, etc. When referringto such an element using only the first number, any instance of theelement is to be understood (e.g., element 110 in the previous examplewould refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 or to elements 110 a,110 b, and 110 c).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Several illustrative embodiments will now be described with respect tothe accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. While particularembodiments, in which one or more aspects of the disclosure may beimplemented, are described below, other embodiments may be used andvarious modifications may be made without departing from the scope ofthe disclosure or the spirit of the appended claims.

Internet streaming is a model of continuous media delivery & playbackutilizing one of the existing chunked delivery protocols, such as DASH[1], HLS [2], or others. It can be used for delivering of videosoriginated from either live or pre-recorded sources. Traditionally, theimplementation of streaming was done mostly on premise, with alltranscoding, packaging and ad-splicing operations done by dedicatedhardware components. However, in recent years, with the advent of cloudplatforms, this model is changing, with more operations being executedin cloud. It can be noted that, as used herein, the terms “video feed”and “video stream” may be used interchangeably to refer to video data ofa video that can be used to ultimately enable a video player to playback the video.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the overall structure ofmodern-era cloud-based live video delivery chain. In the figure, linesbetween components represent communication links from one component tothe next. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatthere may be many devices, networks, etc. used to provide thiscommunication. The various entities involved in the video delivery chain(the video publisher, cloud service provider, Content Delivery Network(CDN), and user device may be communicatively connected, for example,via the Internet. Additionally, the various components shown in theirrespective blocks in FIG. 1 (video source 105, contribution encoder 115,cloud transcoder 125, etc.) may be executed by one or more computingdevices, such as the computing device illustrated in FIG. X2, which isdescribed herein below. (The computing device may comprise part ofand/or be integrated into a larger device, such as a media player, videocamera, etc.)

The input video in this chain originates from a video source 105, which,for example, can be a production video camera filming a live event. Theoutput 110 from the video source 105 is provided to a contributionencoder 115, which converts the video in raw input format (e.g.,uncompressed video delivered over Serial digital interface (SDI)), to aformat suitable for transmission of video over the internet. This formatcould include, for example, a Transport Stream (TS) stream, TSstream+Forward Error Correction (FEC), Real-Time Messaging Protocol(RTMP), or Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) stream. As indicated in FIG.1, these portions of the video delivery chain can be performed by thevideo publisher.

Once formatted by the contribution encoder 115, the output 120 (e.g., avideo stream formatted for transport over the Internet) can be sent to acloud service provider. The cloud service provider can first transcodethe incoming video stream into one or multiple output formats using thecloud transcoder 125. The format(s) of the output 130 of the cloudtranscoder 125 and can include, for example, HyperText Transfer Protocol(HTTP) Live Streaming (HLS), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH)format, and/or another chunked media delivery format as commonly usedfor CDN-assisted HTTP-based delivery. In some embodiments, the output130 of the cloud transcoder 125 also may be altered by ad-insertionprocessing logic and then placed on the origin server 135. The originserver 135 then serves as an input for CDN-assisted delivery.

The final receiver of live video stream is a player 110, operating on auser device, such as personal computer (PC), mobile phone, tablet, ortelevision, which uses a player 150 (e.g., software application) toretrieve chunks of encoded streams from CDN 145. The player 150 thendecodes the encoded streams to reproduce the decoded media on thedevice. For any given live video stream, there may be any number ofplayers 150 (dozens, hundreds, thousands, etc.).

A failure in any component of the live streaming delivery chain(contribution encoder 115, cloud transcoder 125, origin server 135,etc.) can interrupt the viewing experience for a user of the user deviceon which the player 150 is executed. This problem is well known in anyvideo delivery model (broadcast, cable, Over-The-Top (OTT)). However,with cloud-based OTT delivery the problem is particularly difficult tosolve because of the distributed nature of computing resources and thelack of control of latencies and quality of connections between them.Some solutions have been made utilizing proprietary hardware to ensureexact synchronization between different media streams. This exactsynchronization, however, can be difficult to achieve, and suchsolutions are therefore typically relatively expensive, computationallyintensive, and therefore difficult to scale.

According to embodiments herein, these and other issues can be overcomeby providing a fault-tolerant live streaming system is proposed. Thefault tolerance is achieved, according to some embodiments, byperforming live ingest, encoding, ad-insertion, and delivery operationsin parallel, utilizing multiple (redundant) instances of encoders, adservers, and origin servers. In the event when instances deliveringcurrent live streams become unavailable or unstable, the system canallow for switching between redundant instances to enable the continueddelivery of the video stream to the user device. Different embodimentscan include different architectures and different methods of handling ofswitches between such encoders and origin servers in a way thatminimizes discontinuity and Quality of Experience (QoE) impact in caseof such switches. Practical advantages of the proposed system include,for example, superior reliability, low implementation and operationalcosts (which enhances scalability), and ability to achieve the resultwithout modifying ingest workflows or imposing restrictions on theinput(s).

In principle, the established approach for achieving higherfault-tolerance in many practical systems relies on introduction ofredundancies. In case of system depicted in FIG. 1, the redundancies canbe introduced in forms of two or more contribution encoders 115,contribution feeds 120, cloud transcoders 125 (and correspondingad-insertion servers, if any), origin servers 135, and/or multiple CDNs145. However, such redundancies must also be coupled with means ofdetecting which of the redundant components is failing and the switch ofthe delivery to a healthy version.

There are several mechanisms of switching that can be utilized, asdepicted in FIGS. 2A-2C. (Again, it can be noted that althoughembodiments illustrated show switching capabilities between two inputs,alternative embodiments may be capable of switching between any numberof two or more inputs.) FIG. 2A, for example, is a diagram illustratingan in-cloud “redundancy control unit,” or RCU 200. An RCU 200 comprisecloud instances running code that listens for input data coming oninputs 210 from two or more other cloud-based processing units (e.g.,transcoders). In the event when one of those units becomes unresponsive,the RCU 200 can switch from an input 210 from the unresponsive unit toanother input 210 that appears to be more healthy and providing anoutput 215 corresponding to the healthy input.

The use of an RCU 210 can provide a developer of the cloud processingchain best control over how such switching can be implemented, and whatadjustments (if any) will need to be made in the bitstreams that arebeing sent to the output 215 to minimize or prevent the appearance ofdiscontinuities in content in the event of such switching.

A disadvantage of reliance on pure cloud-level switching is that it maybe limited to managing problems introduced before or while content isbeing processed in the cloud. If problems happen later in the chain(e.g. at origin server 135 or CDN 145), alternative switching mechanismsmay need to be used. Additionally, RCUs 210 by themselves may besusceptible to faults (e.g. the cloud instance running them may becomeunstable), and therefore exclusive reliance on such mechanisms may notmake the system entirely fault tolerant in principle.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a switchable CDN 220 comprisingCDN-level switching logic. The switching logic enables the CDN to switch(or distribute traffic load) between inputs 230 received from two ormore origin servers 135, in the event if one of the origin servers 135becomes non- or less-responsive. Such functionality, if available, andcan be programmed to implement rapid switches between inputs 230 in theevent of failure from an origin server 135.

FIG. 2C is a diagram illustrating a switching player 240 havingplayer-side switching logic. The switching player 240 is able to switchbetween different sources (Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)) of mediasegments during streaming session. This functionality may be enabled byboth HLS and DASH specifications, in which one a list of alternativeURLs with media segments may be specified in manifests. Thus theswitching mechanism performed by the switching player 240 can providecontinuous playback in the event that the point failure is the CDN 145itself.

The three means of switching shown in FIGS. 2A-2C can providecomplementary means of ensuring fault tolerance and may be used invarious embodiments of fault-tolerant live video streaming chains, asdiscussed in the following embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a fault-tolerant video delivery system withpost-transcoder switch, according to an embodiment. As can be seen, thesystem utilizes a first contribution encoder 115-1 and secondcontribution encoder 115-2 providing output to a respective first cloudtranscoder 125-1 and second cloud transcoder 125-2. Unlike systems inwhich synchronous encoding is required, the contribution encoders 115-1and 115-2 in the system illustrated in FIG. 3 do not need to besynchronous. Feeds from contribution encoders 115-1 and 115-2 to cloudmay also differ, and they may even use a different delivery protocol.Hence inputs to cloud transcoders 125-1 and 125-2 may not be perfectlysynchronized. Because each cloud transcoder may output a video stream infinal delivery formats (e.g., DASH or HLS), no separate step ofrepackaging of them is necessary.

In one alternative embodiment, the cloud transcoder is 125-1 and 125-2may also include ad-insertion functionality, where, at some timeintervals, the content of the original live feed becomes substituted bycontent coming from other sources. In another alternative embodiment, adinsertion functionality may be added as an extra logical unit locatedbetween RCU 200 and origin server 135.

The inputs to the RCU 200 may represent HLS or DASH manifests andlocations of encoded segments (e.g. stored at intermediate cloudservers). As an example, the first cloud transcoder 125-1 may providethe live video feed that is being routed to the player 150. If thetranscoder instance 125-1 and components upstream from the first cloudtranscoder 125-1 (e.g., video source 105 and first contribution encoder115-1) are operational, then both manifests and media segments will beupdated periodically as content changes. RCU 200 monitors such changesand, as long as the RCU 200 determines the live feed is operational, itcontinues to send both manifests and segments received from the firstcloud transcoder 125-1 to the origin server 135. The RCU 200 maydetermine whether the live feed is operational based, for example, onwhether the feed is being regularly updated and/or other indicia ofproper operation.

On the other hand, the RCU 200 receives an indication that the videofeed received from the first cloud transcoder 125-1 is not operatingproperly (e.g., provides no output, progressively lags behind, etc.),the RCU 200 can then examine characteristics of the live video streamcoming from the second cloud transcoder 125-2. If the live video streamcoming from the second cloud transcoder 125-2 appears operational, theRCU 200 can then switch to that live video stream, providing themanifests and video segment locations received from the second cloudtranscoder 125-2 to the origin server 135.

Because video stream delivered by first cloud transcoder 125-1 and thesecond cloud transcoder 125-2 are generally not precisely synchronized,additional adaptations of the video stream provided to the origin server135 may need to be made to help minimize the impact of such switch asperceived by the end user. Some players 150, for example, may not beable to handle a switch from one video stream to another if videostreams are not perfectly synchronized.

With this in mind, embodiments can include updating manifest files toallow a player 152 adapt to the switch. For example, in an HLS manifest,the manifest file can be updated to include a discontinuity marker(EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY) placed before referencing to new media segmentssubsequent to the switch. In a DASH manifest (DASH MPD), the manifestcan be updated to indicate the beginning of a new period in thepresentation, which in turn allows players to better handlediscontinuities. Finally, embodiments may additionally or alternativelyprovide means for improved handling of discontinuities by updating mediasegments. For example, the last segment from chain before the switch ofa first segment after the switch may be updated to include DASH orCommon Media Application Format (CMAF) event carrying a new manifestwithin it, and thus causing media player to reload the manifest andcontinue processing of subsequent segments as new presentation.Alternatively, media segments after the switch may be transmuxed andupdated at elementary stream levels to make such streams continuouslydecodable. Relevant changes can be done by updating Sequence ParameterSet (SPS), Picture Parameter Set (PPS), as well as PresentationTimestamp (PTS), Display Timestamp (DTS), Program Clock Reference (PCR)or System Clock Reference (SCR) parameters. Filler bits may also beinserted to make streams compliant at Hypothetical Reference Decoder(HRD) level. Although the system illustrated in FIG. 3 may notnecessarily result in seamless switching between redundant streams, itcan nevertheless minimize the impact of such switching in a way that iscompliant with DASH and HLS standards. Moreover, as noted, theutilization of an RCU 200 in this manner may not require proprietary,expensive hardware to execute contribution encoders, upload links, andother components in the delivery chain.

FIG. 4 provides an example of how an HLS manifest may be modified by theRCU 200 in FIG. 3 to help minimize issues at the player 150 arising froma switch from one video stream to another. In the figure, each blockincludes content of a manifest (M3U8 file) for a live video stream. Inthis example, the content in block 410 comprises a manifest of a livevideo stream from the first cloud transcoder 125-1, and the content inblock 420 comprises a manifest of a live video stream from the secondcloud transcoder 125-2. The content in block 430 comprises the output ofthe RCU 200, which is capable from switching from using video streamfrom the first cloud transcoder 125-1 to using the video stream from thesecond cloud transcoder 125-2. In this example, the RCU 200 begins byforwarding the output received from the first cloud transcoder 125-1.Thus, the first portion of the content in block 430 includes the contentin block 410. However, the RCU 200 subsequently switches to the secondvideo stream from the second cloud transcoder 125-2 (e.g., in responseto determining the video stream from the first transcoder 125-1 hasstopped producing video segments). The latter portion of the content inblock 430, therefore, includes portions of the content in block 420received from the second cloud transcoder 125-2. Importantly, the RCU200 inserts an indication 440 of a discontinuity in the manifest. Thiscan signal to the player 150 the discontinuity between the first portionof the manifest in block 430 and the second portion of the manifest.With this indication, the player 150 can better handle the discontinuitywithout causing playback errors. For DASH, the RCU 200 can similarlyprovide an output manifest to indicated discontinuity by signaling thebeginning of a new period in the presentation.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a fault-tolerant video deliverysystem. Similar to the system in FIG. 3, the system in FIG. 5 includestwo contribution encoders 115-1 and 115-2 as well as two cloudtranscoders 125-1 and 125-2. However, the system in FIG. 5 furtherincludes redundancy in the downstream components providing againstadditional types of failures. These redundant components include a firstRCU 200-1 and second RCU 200-2, a first origin server 135-1 and secondorigin server 135-2, and a first CDN 145-1 and second CDN 145-2. (Again,variations to this embodiment could include more than two components ofthe same type.) Additionally, because of the dual-CDN delivery to theuser device, the user device can include a switching player 240.

Because of the symmetrically placed RCUs 200-1 and 200-2, two versionsof content that can be delivered. It can be additionally noted that oneof these versions will continue to stream even if one of the RCUs 200-1and 200-2 fails. Delivery of the streams further passed throughredundant origin servers 135-1 and 135-2 and redundant CDN's 145-1 and145-2 (or different configurations within the same CDN 145). The use ofplayer-side switching can be an extra fault-tolerance measure, inaddition to in-cloud delivery chain switching. The switching player 240is capable of dynamically choosing between multiple playlist URLs (orbase segment URLs) in HLS and DASH implementations.

When compared with the system in FIG. 3, the additional degree ofprotection that system in FIG. 5 provides comes at relatively littleadditional implementation and operational costs. That is, the costsrelated to additional RCU 200, origin server 135, and CDN connection 145are relatively low. However, since at any point in time a switchingplayer 240 will only use one of the CDNs (145-1 or 145-2) connected, theamount of bandwidth that will be delivered by both CDNs will beidentical to delivery over a single CDN. Hence, overall the operationalcosts will be similar.

An alternative embodiment to the system provided in FIG. 5 may utilizean additional distributed-consensus-type protocol at the RCUs 200-1 and200-2. This can enable the RCUs 200-1 and 200-2 to coordinate switchingin a way as to minimize presentation time misalignment of output streamsproduced in the event of switching.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of a fault-tolerant video deliverysystem. The system in FIG. 6 has components and functionality similar tothe system in FIG. 5, with the additional inclusion of switching CDNs220-1 and 220-2 to provide CDN-level switching. Generally speaking, someCDNs offer Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and capability toswitch between origin servers. And thus, embodiments of fault-tolerantsystems may utilize such switching to add additional fault tolerance.The system shown in FIG. 6 uses switching CDNs 220-1 and 220-2, capableof such switching, to switch between content placed on two originservers 135-1 and 135-2. The origin servers 135-1 and 135-2 may belocated in different regions, and thus the system of FIG. 6 can offerextra degree of resilience in cases when entire region of cloud serviceprovided may become nonoperational. The use of a switching player 240 insystem of FIG. 6 can also be useful in the event a CDN (e.g., either220-1 and 220-2, or different parts of same CDN as used to enable bothdelivery paths) is failing.

Ultimately, the system in FIG. 6 offers layers of protection againstfailures, again with minimum extra implementation and operational costsas compared to systems in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5. The use of CDN-implementeddelivery path switching in addition to the manifest output provided byRCUs 200-1 and 200-2 can help ensure standards compliance and minimumdiscontinuities in streams during a switch. Again, the use ofplayer-side switching can serve as an extra fault-tolerance measure, inaddition to switching provided by RCU is 200-1 and 200-2 and CDN's 145-1and 145-2.

An alternative embodiment to the system provided in FIG. 6 may utilizean additional distributed-consensus-type protocol at the RCUs 200-1 and200-2. This can enable the RCUs 200-1 and 200-2 to coordinate switchingin a way as to minimize presentation time misalignment of output streamsproduced in the event of switching.

FIG. 7 illustrates yet another embodiment of a fault-tolerant videodelivery system. As a variation to the previously-discussed embodiments,the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 combines a single RCU 200 with twoorigin servers 135-1 and 135-2. Further, rather than utilizing aswitching CDN 220, the embodiment of FIG. 7 illustrates the use of asingle CDN 145 capable of providing streams from both origin servers135-1 and 135-2 to a switching player 240 (that chooses the originserver 135-1 or 135-2 from which to receive the video stream).Alternative embodiments to the system of FIG. 7 may utilize any of thepreviously-described components to provide additional or alternativefault tolerance. For example, one or more switching CDNs 220 may be usedin addition or as an alternative to the switching player 240.

As noted, the various components of a fault-tolerant live videostreaming systems in FIGS. 3, 5, 6, and 7 as well as alternativeembodiments thereof, may be implemented on one or more computer systems.Moreover, because different video streams may be routed via computerservers in different geographical areas, it may further help avoid afault if servers in one of the geographical areas experience an outage.An example computer system capable of implementing one or more of thecomponents of an embodiment of a fault-tolerant live video streamingsystem is illustrated in FIG. 9 and described in more detail below.

It can be further noted that, although embodiments illustrated in theAppendix may use a single redundancy (e.g., use two of the samecomponent), embodiments are not so limited. Embodiments can, forexample, use multiple redundancies (e.g., more than two of the samecomponent), if desired.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 800 of method ofproviding fault-tolerant live video streaming, according to anembodiment, which can use one or more of the techniques in thepreviously-described embodiments. It will be understood that thefunctions illustrated in FIG. 8 are provided as an example. Alternativeembodiments may add, omit, combine, separate, and otherwise alter thefunctions as shown. The functions of one or more of the blocksillustrated in FIG. 8 may be performed, for example, by an RCU aspreviously described. As previously noted, an RCU may be implemented bysoftware and/or hardware components of a computer system, such as thecomputer system illustrated in FIG. 9 described in more detail below.

At block 810, the functionality comprises obtaining a first transcodedvideo stream from a first video transcoder and a second transcoded videostream from a second video transcoder. As illustrated in thepreviously-described embodiments, each video transcoder may receive avideo stream from a respective contribution encoder, which may encodethe separate video streams from a single video source (which maycomprise a set of one or more video cameras). The contribution encodersmay provide video streams to the first and second video transcodersusing any of a variety of formats, such as TS, TS+FEC, RTMP, SRT, or thelike. In some embodiments, as noted, the first transcoded video streamand the second transcoded video stream are in an HLS format or a DASHformat. The contribution encoders may provide the video streams to thefirst and second video transcoders via the Internet using any of avariety of communication means (including public and/or privatenetworks, wireless and/or wired technology, etc.). In some embodiments,the first and second video transcoders may receive video streams fromthe respective contribution encoders via different, independentcommunication paths, to help ensure that, if one communication pathfails, the other will not. As a person of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate, the method 800 may include obtaining additional videostreams from additional transcoders (i.e., in addition to the first andsecond video transcoders), to provide additional redundancy.

At block 820, the functionality comprises outputting a first manifestthat uses video segments of the first transcoded video stream to providea first output video stream. More specifically, embodiments can createthe first manifest based on a manifest provided by the first videotranscoder. The manifest may use the same format as the manifest for thefirst video transcoder (e.g., if the output manifest provided by thefirst video transcoder is in HLS format, the first manifest may also bein HLS format).

At block 830, the functionality comprises identifying a fault conditionwithin the first transcoding video stream. Here, the functionality maycomprise monitoring the output manifest of the first video transcoder todetermine whether it is being updated as expected. Because the manifestmay comprise a list of URLs identifying locations at which videosegments may be found, the functionality may also comprise determiningwhether the URLs in the manifest work. Thus, a fall condition may beidentified when the first video transcoder fails to update its outputmanifest on time (i.e., there is a delay in the output of the firsttranscoded video stream of longer than a threshold amount of time) orwhen one of the URLs of the manifest fails to work (i.e., there is aninaccessible link to a video segment of the first transcoded videostream).

At block 840, the method comprises, in response to identifying the faultcondition, updating the first manifest to switch from using the videosegments of the first transcoded video stream to provide the firstoutput video stream to using video segments of the second transcodedstream to provide the first output video stream. In some embodiments,the first manifest further includes an identifier indicating a point atwhich the first manifest switches from using the video segments of thefirst transcoded video stream to using the video segments of the secondtranscoded video stream. Previously noted, this identifier can comprisean indication of a discontinuity in the first output video stream, anindication of a new period within the first output video stream, and/oran indication embedded in the encoded streams by transmuxing of mediasegments.

Embodiments of the method 800 can vary, depending on desiredfunctionality. For example, additional redundancies can be made. In someembodiments, a first redundancy control unit can be used to perform thefunctions of blocks 810-140. Such embodiments may further comprise usinga second redundancy control unit to obtain the first transcoded videostream from the first video transcoder and the second transcoded videostream from the second video transcoder, and output a second manifestthat uses video segments of the first transcoded video stream, thesecond transcoded video stream, or both, to provide a second outputvideo stream. This can allow for CDN switching. That is, in someembodiments, the method may further comprise providing the first outputvideo stream to a first CDN, and providing the second output videostream to a second CDN, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. Someembodiments may further output each output video stream to a CDN foradditional redundancies, as illustrated in FIG. 6. As such, the methodmay further comprise providing the first output video stream to thesecond CDN, and providing the second output video stream to the firstCDN.

Origin servers may be utilized differently as well, depending on desiredfunctionality. In some embodiments, for example, where to RCUs are used,the first output video stream and second output video stream can beprovided to a first origin server and second origin server respectively,as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. Alternatively, a single origin servermay be used (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3), or a single output video stream(e.g., the first output video stream) can be provided to a first originserver and a second origin server (e.g., as shown in FIG. 7).

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system 900,which may be used, in whole or in part, to perform one or more of thefunctions of the methods described herein, including the method shown inFIG. 8. The computer system 900 may be incorporated into one or more ofthe components of a system for providing fault-tolerant live videostreaming, such as those illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5-7, includingcomponents at the video publisher, cloud service provider, CDN, and/oruser device.

It should be noted that FIG. 9 is meant only to provide a generalizedillustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilizedas appropriate. FIG. 9, therefore, broadly illustrates how individualsystem elements may be implemented in a relatively separated orrelatively more integrated manner. In addition, it can be noted thatcomponents illustrated by FIG. 9 can be localized to a single deviceand/or distributed among various networked devices, which may bedisposed at different geographical locations.

The computer system 900 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 905 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements may includeprocessing unit(s) 910, which may comprise without limitation one ormore general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerationprocessors, and/or the like), and/or other processing structure, whichcan be configured to perform one or more of the methods describedherein. The computer system 900 also may comprise one or more inputdevices 915, which may comprise without limitation a mouse, a keyboard,a camera, a microphone, and/or the like; and one or more output devices920, which may comprise without limitation a display device, a printer,and/or the like.

The computer system 900 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more non-transitory storage devices 925, which cancomprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage,and/or may comprise, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, anoptical storage device, a solid-state storage device, such as a RandomAccess Memory (RAM), and/or a Read-Only Memory (ROM), which can beprogrammable, flash-updateable, and/or the like. Such storage devicesmay be configured to implement any appropriate data stores, includingwithout limitation, various file systems, database structures, and/orthe like. Such data stores may include database(s) and/or other datastructures used store and administer messages and/or other informationto be sent to one or more devices, as described herein.

The computer system 900 might also include a communications subsystem930, which may comprise wireless communication technologies managed andcontrolled by a wireless communication interface, as well as wiredtechnologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communications, universal serialbus (USB), and the like). As such, the communications subsystem 930 maycomprise a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infraredcommunication device, a wireless communication device, and/or a chipset,and/or the like, which may enable the computer system 900 to communicateon one or more communication networks with any device on the respectivenetwork, including other computer systems and/or any other electronicdevices (including operations and/or applications executed thereon)described herein. Hence, the communications subsystem 930 may be used toreceive and send data as described in the embodiments herein.

In many embodiments, the computer system 900 will further comprise aworking memory 935, which may comprise a RAM or ROM device, as describedabove. Software elements, shown as being located within the workingmemory 935, may comprise an operating system 940, device drivers,executable libraries, and/or other code, such as one or moreapplications 945, which may comprise computer programs provided byvarious embodiments, and/or may be designed to implement methods, and/orconfigure systems, provided by other embodiments, as described herein.Merely by way of example, one or more procedures described with respectto the method(s) discussed above might be implemented as code and/orinstructions executable by a computer (and/or a processing unit within acomputer); in an aspect, then, such code and/or instructions can be usedto configure and/or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device)to perform one or more operations in accordance with the describedmethods.

A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as the storagedevice(s) 925 described above. In some cases, the storage medium mightbe incorporated within a computer system, such as computer system 900.In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from acomputer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as an optical disc),and/or provided in an installation package, such that the storage mediumcan be used to program, configure, and/or adapt a general purposecomputer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructionsmight take the form of executable code, which is executable by thecomputer system 900 and/or might take the form of source and/orinstallable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on thecomputer system 900 (e.g., using any of a variety of generally availablecompilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities,etc.), then takes the form of executable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to othercomputing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed.

With reference to the appended figures, components that may comprisememory may comprise non-transitory machine-readable media. The term“machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” as used herein,refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data thatcauses a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In embodimentsprovided hereinabove, various machine-readable media might be involvedin providing instructions/code to processing units and/or otherdevice(s) for execution. Additionally or alternatively, themachine-readable media might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code. In many implementations, a computer-readable mediumis a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may takemany forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatilemedia, and transmission media. Common forms of computer-readable mediainclude, for example, magnetic and/or optical media, any other physicalmedium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a Programmable ROM (PROM),Erasable PROM (EPROM), a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridgeas described herein, or any other medium from which a computer can readinstructions and/or code.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Variousembodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, features described with respectto certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments.Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in asimilar manner. The various components of the figures provided hereincan be embodied in hardware and/or software. Also, technology evolvesand, thus, many of the elements are examples that do not limit the scopeof the disclosure to those specific examples.

Reference throughout this specification to “one example,” “an example,”“certain examples,” or “exemplary implementation” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the feature and/or example may be included in at least one featureand/or example of claimed subject matter. Thus, the appearances of thephrase “in one example,” “an example,” “in certain examples” or “incertain implementations” or other like phrases in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame feature, example, and/or limitation. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or moreexamples and/or features.

Some portions of the detailed description included herein are presentedin terms of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations onbinary digital signals stored within a memory of a specific apparatus orspecial purpose computing device or platform. In the context of thisparticular specification, the term specific apparatus or the likeincludes a general purpose computer once it is programmed to performparticular operations pursuant to instructions from program software.Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples oftechniques used by those of ordinary skill in the signal processing orrelated arts to convey the substance of their work to others skilled inthe art. An algorithm is here, and generally, is considered to be aself-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processingleading to a desired result. In this context, operations or processinginvolve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically,although not necessarily, such quantities may take the form ofelectrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred,combined, compared or otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient attimes, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signalsas bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers,numerals, or the like. It should be understood, however, that all ofthese or similar terms are to be associated with appropriate physicalquantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically statedotherwise, as apparent from the discussion herein, it is appreciatedthat throughout this specification discussions utilizing terms such as“processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or the likerefer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a specialpurpose computer, special purpose computing apparatus or a similarspecial purpose electronic computing device. In the context of thisspecification, therefore, a special purpose computer or a similarspecial purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulatingor transforming signals, typically represented as physical electronic ormagnetic quantities within memories, registers, or other informationstorage devices, transmission devices, or display devices of the specialpurpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

The terms, “and”, “or”, and “and/or” as used herein may include avariety of meanings that also are expected to depend at least in partupon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” if usedto associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C,here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here used in theexclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as used herein maybe used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in thesingular or may be used to describe a plurality or some othercombination of features, structures or characteristics. Though, itshould be noted that this is merely an illustrative example and claimedsubject matter is not limited to this example.

While there has been illustrated and described what are presentlyconsidered to be example features, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, andequivalents may be substituted, without departing from claimed subjectmatter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt aparticular situation to the teachings of claimed subject matter withoutdeparting from the central concept described herein.

Therefore, it is intended that claimed subject matter not be limited tothe particular examples disclosed, but that such claimed subject mattermay also include all aspects falling within the scope of appendedclaims, and equivalents thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly or conventionally understood. As usedherein, the articles “a” and “an” refer to one or to more than one(i.e., to at least one) of the grammatical object of the article. By wayof example, “an element” means one element or more than one element.“About” and/or “approximately” as used herein when referring to ameasurable value such as an amount, a temporal duration, and the like,encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or +0.1% from the specifiedvalue, as such variations are appropriate to in the context of thesystems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations describedherein. “Substantially” as used herein when referring to a measurablevalue such as an amount, a temporal duration, a physical attribute (suchas frequency), and the like, also encompasses variations of ±20% or±10%, ±5%, or +0.1% from the specified value, as such variations areappropriate to in the context of the systems, devices, circuits,methods, and other implementations described herein.

As used herein, including in the claims, “and” as used in a list ofitems prefaced by “at least one of” or “one or more of” indicates thatany combination of the listed items may be used. For example, a list of“at least one of A, B, and C” includes any of the combinations A or B orC or AB or AC or BC and/or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Furthermore, tothe extent more than one occurrence or use of the items A, B, or C ispossible, multiple uses of A, B, and/or C may form part of thecontemplated combinations. For example, a list of “at least one of A, B,and C” may also include AA, AAB, AAA, BB, etc.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing fault-tolerant live videostreaming, the method comprising: using a first redundancy control unitto perform the steps of: obtaining a first transcoded video stream froma first cloud video transcoder and a second transcoded video stream froma second cloud video transcoder, wherein inputs to the first redundancycontrol unit include the first transcoded video stream and the secondtranscoded video stream, the first transcoded video stream consists of afirst transcoded manifest and a set of first transcoded video segmentsproduced by the first cloud video transcoder, and the second transcodedvideo stream consists of a second transcoded manifest and a set ofsecond transcoded video segments produced by the second cloud videotranscoder; outputting, to a first origin server, a first outputmanifest that uses the set of first transcoded video segments of thefirst transcoded video stream to provide a first output video stream,the first output manifest being based on the first transcoded manifest;monitoring the first transcoded manifest to identify a fault conditionwith the first transcoding video stream; in response to identifying thefault condition, updating the first manifest to switch from using theset of first transcoded video segments of the first transcoded videostream to provide the first output video stream to using the set ofsecond transcoded video segments of the second transcoded video streamto provide the first output video stream, the updating of the firstmanifest being based on the second transcoded manifest; and using asecond redundancy control unit to perform the steps of: obtaining thefirst transcoded video stream from the first cloud video transcoder andthe second transcoded video stream from the second cloud videotranscoder; and outputting a second manifest that uses the videosegments of the first transcoded video stream, the second transcodedvideo stream, or both, to provide a second output video stream.
 2. Themethod of providing fault-tolerant live video streaming as recited inclaim 1, wherein the first updated manifest is a HyperText TransferProtocol (HTTP) Live Streaming (HLS) manifest comprising anEXT-X-DISCONTINUITY marker placed prior to using the video segments ofthe second transcoded video stream.”
 3. The method of providingfault-tolerant live video streaming as recited in claim 1, wherein thefirst updated manifest is a DASH manifest, which declares the videosegments of the second transcoded video stream as a new period in mediapresentation.
 4. The method of providing fault-tolerant live videostreaming as recited in claim 1, wherein the first updated manifest is aDASH manifest that is further encoded and placed as Dynamic AdaptiveStreaming over HTTP (DASH) or Common Media Application Format (CMAF)event message in a last media segment from first video stream before theswitch, or in first video segment of the second transcoded video streamafter the switch.
 5. The method of providing fault-tolerant live videostreaming as recited in claim 1, wherein updating the video segments ofthe second transcoded video stream comprises modifying: a SequenceParameter Set (SPS), a Picture Parameter Set (PPS), a PresentationTimestamp (PTS), a Display Timestamp (DTS), a Program Clock Reference(PCR), or System Clock Reference (SCR), or any combinations thereof. 6.The method of providing fault-tolerant live video streaming as recitedin claim 1, wherein the fault condition comprises: a delay in the outputof the first transcoded video stream of longer than a threshold amountof time, an inaccessible link to a video segment of the first transcodedvideo stream, or any combination thereof.
 7. The method of providingfault-tolerant live video streaming as recited in claim 1, furthercomprising: providing the first output video stream to a first ContentDelivery Network (CDN); and providing the second output video stream toa second CDN.
 8. The method of providing fault-tolerant live videostreaming as recited in claim 1, further comprising: providing the firstoutput video stream to the second CDN; and providing the second outputvideo stream to the first CDN.
 9. The method of providing fault-tolerantlive video streaming as recited in claim 1, further comprising:providing the first output video stream to the first origin server; andproviding the second output video stream to a second origin server. 10.The method of providing fault-tolerant live video streaming as recitedin claim 1, further comprising: providing the first output video streamto the first origin server and a second origin server.
 11. A system forproviding fault-tolerant live video streaming, the system comprising: amemory; and one or more processing units communicatively coupled withthe memory and configured to: obtain by a first redundancy control unit,a first transcoded video stream from a first cloud video transcoder anda second transcoded video stream from a second cloud video transcoder,wherein inputs to the first redundancy control unit include the firsttranscoded video stream and the second transcoded video stream, thefirst transcoded video stream consists of a first transcoded manifestand a set of first transcoded video segments produced by the first cloudvideo transcoder, and the second transcoded video stream consists of asecond transcoded manifest and a set of second transcoded video segmentsproduced by the second cloud video transcoder; output by the firstredundancy control unit, to a first origin server, a first outputmanifest that uses the set of first transcoded video segments of thefirst transcoded video stream to provide a first output video stream,the first output manifest being based on the first transcoded manifest;monitor by the first redundancy control unit, the first transcodedmanifest to identify a fault condition with the first transcoding videostream; in response to identifying the fault condition, update the firstmanifest to switch from using the set of first transcoded video segmentsof the first transcoded video stream to provide the first output videostream to using the set of second transcoded video segments of thesecond transcoded video stream to provide the first output video stream,the updating of the first manifest being based on the second transcodedmanifest; obtain by a second redundancy control unit, the firsttranscoded video stream from the first cloud video transcoder and thesecond transcoded video stream from the second cloud video transcoder;and output by the second redundancy control unit, a second manifest thatuses the video segments of the first transcoded video stream, the secondtranscoded video stream, or both, to provide a second output videostream.
 12. The system for providing fault-tolerant live video streamingas recited in claim 11, wherein the first updated manifest is aHyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Live Streaming (HLS) manifestcomprising an EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY marker placed prior to using the videosegments of the second transcoded video stream.”
 13. The system forproviding fault-tolerant live video streaming as recited in claim 11,wherein the first updated manifest is a DASH manifest, which declaresthe video segments of the second transcoded video stream as a new periodin media presentation.
 14. The system for providing fault-tolerant livevideo streaming as recited in claim 11, wherein the first updatedmanifest is a DASH manifest that is further encoded and placed asDynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) or Common Media ApplicationFormat (CMAF) event message in a last media segment from first videostream before the switch, or in first video segment of the secondtranscoded video stream after the switch.
 15. The system for providingfault-tolerant live video streaming as recited in claim 11, whereinupdating the video segments of the second transcoded video streamcomprises modifying: a Sequence Parameter Set (SPS), a Picture ParameterSet (PPS), a Presentation Timestamp (PTS), a Display Timestamp (DTS), aProgram Clock Reference (PCR), or System Clock Reference (SCR), or anycombinations thereof.
 16. The system for providing fault-tolerant livevideo streaming as recited in claim 11, wherein the fault conditioncomprises: a delay in the output of the first transcoded video stream oflonger than a threshold amount of time, an inaccessible link to a videosegment of the first transcoded video stream, or any combinationthereof.
 17. The system for providing fault-tolerant live videostreaming as recited in claim 1, further comprising: providing the firstoutput video stream to a first Content Delivery Network (CDN); andproviding the second output video stream to a second CDN.
 18. The systemfor providing fault-tolerant live video streaming as recited in claim 1,further comprising: providing the first output video stream to thesecond CDN; and providing the second output video stream to the firstCDN.
 19. The method of providing fault-tolerant live video streaming asrecited in claim 1, further comprising: providing the first output videostream to the first origin server; and providing the second output videostream to a second origin server.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium having instructions stored thereby, which, when executed by oneor more processing units, cause the one or more processing units to:obtain by a first redundancy control unit, a first transcoded videostream from a first cloud video transcoder and a second transcoded videostream from a second cloud video transcoder, wherein inputs to the firstredundancy control unit include the first transcoded video stream andthe second transcoded video stream, the first transcoded video streamconsists of a first transcoded manifest and a set of first transcodedvideo segments produced by the first cloud video transcoder, and thesecond transcoded video stream consists of a second transcoded manifestand a set of second transcoded video segments produced by the secondcloud video transcoder; output by the first redundancy control unit, toa first origin server, a first output manifest that uses the set offirst transcoded video segments of the first transcoded video stream toprovide a first output video stream, the first output manifest beingbased on the first transcoded manifest; monitor by the first redundancycontrol unit, the first transcoded manifest to identify a faultcondition with the first transcoding video stream; in response toidentifying the fault condition, update the first manifest to switchfrom using the set of first transcoded video segments of the firsttranscoded video stream to provide the first output video stream tousing the set of second transcoded video segments of the secondtranscoded video stream to provide the first output video stream, theupdating of the first manifest being based on the second transcodedmanifest; obtain by a second redundancy control unit, the firsttranscoded video stream from the first cloud video transcoder and thesecond transcoded video stream from the second cloud video transcoder;and output by the second redundancy control unit, a second manifest thatuses the video segments of the first transcoded video stream, the secondtranscoded video stream, or both, to provide a second output videostream.